Oriol Soldevila's hat-trick helped Barcelona defeat Intercity 4-3 in the Copa del Rey, and Ansu Fati added the winning goal in extra time.
Ronald Araujo's early effort had predicted a straightforward night for the 31-time winners, but the Blaugrana were constantly tormented by the underdogs in a topsy-turvy encounter.
That was undoubtedly not the case since, after Ousmane Dembele and Raphinha had each given Barcelona the lead again, Soldevila's hat-trick of equalizers forced the match into extra time. But after Fati scored a critical goal in the 103rd minute, Soldevila and Intercity were unable to accomplish the feat a fourth time.
Araujo headed in Pablo Torre's corner four minutes into the game for Xavi's team, but Intercity quickly improved after the half and the defender was soon forced to clear off the line at the other end. Just before the hour mark, Vadik Murria headed a corner down for Soldevila to shoot past the hapless Inaki Pena for a well-deserved equalizer.
After Dembele pounced on Gavi's pass and chipped a shot over Gaizka Campos, the scores were level for just seven minutes. However, Intercity rallied and Soldevila headed his second with no opposition from Jordi Alba.
Raphinha received an assist from Alba at the other end, but Campos expertly stopped the winger from adding a second, and Soldevila sensationally forced extra time by breaking from the next corner. However, a fortunate fourth goal from Barcelona would be enough to advance the visitors to the round of 16, as Fati's deflected shot fooled Campos.
BLAUGRANA STAY CALM
Barcelona has a great Copa del Rey record against lower-tier teams, but this was not at all the easy encounter that many had anticipated.
The victory extends the Blaugrana's unbeaten streak in the Copa del Rey to 22 games against lower-league opponents without being eliminated, dating back to their 1-0 loss to Gramanet in October 2004.
However, Intercity may feel proud of themselves for becoming the first team from the third division to score three goals in a single Copa match against Barcelona since Novelda triumphed 3-2 in September 2002.
DEMBELE IMPRESSES.
With his second goal of the match for Barcelona, Dembele has been directly involved in more goals under Xavi than any other player. His resurgence under the Camp Nou coach has been well-documented. The France international leads the pack with a total of 28 (eight goals, 20 assists).
THREE-PEAT HERO
Despite the loss, Soldevila's hat-trick made headlines because he was the first Spanish player since Aritz Aduriz in 2015 to score three goals against Barcelona.
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